About the Buttrams

The following are things you may or may not need to know about me. They may or may not be embellished truths, but in my experience, reality is so much more hilarious.

I am related by marriage to Mr. Haney from Green Acres. And I’m not talking second cousin once removed. Pat Buttram was my husband’s great-uncle. Kind of a lame pick-up line, if you ask me. But then again, maybe you shouldn’t ask me, because apparently it worked.

I am a second-generation Asian-American. Both my parents immigrated here from the Philippines. Though I was born in the Philippines, my dad was in the United States military, so I’ve pretty much lived my whole life on American soil. I can’t speak much Tagalog (shame), but love the richness of my culture all the same. And the food. Definitely the food.

I am married with children, but without the TV show. Hubs was conned into marrying me almost a decade ago, got me knocked up with my boy Bug, and then it happened again with Bean. The four of us have way too much fun than should be allowed in one family. Where’s the dysfunction? Although, I should probably ask that question again when they are teenagers.

I come from a big, ridiculous, sloppy-kisses family. No, really. We all love each other. Like, a lot. My older brother is The Best, my two sisters are actually my two best friends, and my parents are flawless. My parents have always stressed the importance of Family First. It wasn’t too popular with us kids when we had to be home before midnight on New Year’s Eve, when all our friends were off kissing each other at 12:01 (what would their mothers say?!), but it set a good precedent for the coming year to ring it in with family.

I have a major crush on God. I wasn’t born and baptized into the church. Up until I was in sixth grade, church was reserved for midnight mass on Christmas eve. But then we moved to the Bible belt and next door to a preacher, so it was all but inevitable that we meet this Jesus guy and go over to His house on non-holidays. I like Him, I like to talk about Him, and I can’t wait to meet Him in person. (I hear He’s tall.)

I am entomophobic. Self-diagnosed, of course. I remember a time when I was just averagely afraid of bugs, but that was before my own mother started chasing me with dead bugs and exploiting that once-mild fear. Now it is full-blown. I can’t even get close enough to bugs to squash them. Instead, I will spray them (from a safe distance) with whatever I have on hand: Lysol, Febreze, hairspray…all deadly in copious amounts.

I love to write. And laugh. And laugh at what I write. (I hope you do, too!) Maybe one day someone will pay me for it. (That is, for the writing bit. I don’t think they pay people to laugh, but if you hear of a job opening in that market, let me know, would you? Thanks.)

And lastly, we are all ridiculously good-looking. Just take my word for it.

Very cool – my hubs, who I refer to on my blog as Mr. Pavlov, is Filipino born and raised! We’ve been to the PI and were the “all you can eat buffet” for some King Kong mutant blood sucking critters. It was quite the experience and the Mangos made it almost worth the blood donation!
Great site!
Beth

Wow, summer? We went in Dec after a recent Typhoon and nearly died from the heat. I think we are going within the next year….or two. I have an outreach there. Check out http://www.internationreliefmissions.com (it’s posted at the top of my blog too). Glad I met you 🙂
Beth

I don’t know how I stumbled upon your blog but I’m glad I did! I too am Pinay and migrated here 23 years ago… my accent comes out when my husband pisses me off! I took my daughter to the Philippines for the first time last summer, we stayed for 5 weeks. When we came home, SHE had an accent! Now she gets my humor, I lover her but she’s turning 13 in 2 weeks, so let’s see if I’ll still love her then!

Love your writing style… want to write a play with me? Ok, I will go stalk pages of your blog for now. Have a good one!

You made me laugh. So we’re both Filipinas, except that I am more well verse with Tagalog, I’m from Davao so that makes me not so fluent with it. ( another shame). Diverse culture, we have. The importance of family togetherness is the best. But my parents are separated, so I’m missing it out a lot! Sigh*… Oh enough about me. Glad to have found your blog. You guys are really good looking, in fact! 😉

I’m happy to know that you take joy and pride of your family’s heritage. I’m trying to give my 6 year old a beautiful memory of the Philippines even if he’s born in the U.S. I think it’s vital for them not to loose that cultural identity and the to appreciate our humble beginnings. Your blog has a lot of heart to give….Thank you…wishing you and your family the best…

Oh my goodness! You’re cracking me up 🙂 I love the way you describe yourself, and I aspire to be a stay-at-home-mom who doesn’t do chores just like you. You are a new hero to me! I’m looking forward to further exploring your blog. Thanks for sharing!

Hello, nice to discover your blog via freshly pressed! I’m a writer/mum/boat sweeper bound to England by love and marriage but I was born and raised in the Philippines 🙂 Your posts are engaging. I’ve been to your other blog, too. I like the wordplay. Keep up the good work!